A former residential drug and alcohol rehab facility at 1072 and 1082 Vermont St. in San Jose’s Rose Garden neighborhood is being converted to a house for 16 homeless veterans. The two homes are collectively known as the Vermont House.

Two years after work began on transforming a former residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in the Rose Garden neighborhood into a home for 16 homeless veterans, the time has arrived for the new residents to move in.

The Vermont House, as the two homes at 1072 and 1082 Vermont St. are collectively known, was acquired by the city of San Jose through foreclosure in 2009 when the rehab facility defaulted on its loan. The conversion project involves a multi-agency partnership that includes the city and Santa Clara County Housing Authority.

The City Council approved a $3 million grant for renovations that were sorely needed, as the building had mold, a broken heating system, leaking ceilings, foundation issues and a host of other problems.

Workers, including volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, literally helped rebuild the houses from the ground up, according to Patrick Heisinger of the San Jose Housing Department.

“The property was built in the 1920s,” Heisinger said in an interview. “It’s a very nice architectural design, but there were some foundational issues that had to be addressed.”

With the homes waiting to receive certificates of occupancy any day, Heisinger said the target move-in date is Dec. 15. About half of the residents have already been selected with help from the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and nonprofit group Abode Services, which will provide on-site management.

“We’re moving ahead; we have about half of the veterans selected,” Abode Executive Director Louis Chicoine said. “We’ll have them all selected by the time we have our certificate.”

Since 2015, the countywide All the Way Home campaign, which aims to find housing for the county’s homeless veterans, has managed to house about 510 of them. More than half were given Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers, which will also be used by Vermont House residents.

“Having all entities at the table is really what it takes to house our most vulnerable,” Heisinger said.

“Without the vouchers, there wouldn’t be any income to provide ongoing services,” he said. “The project-based vouchers, the Housing Authority’s commitment to this project, allow Abode the owner to collect (and), in turn, use them to keep the property up and also have case managers on site.”

Stakeholders have managed to find permanent housing for veterans in a variety of places, but Chicoine said the Vermont House is meant to provide a supportive environment.

“The issue with vets is their needs are so intense because of their experiences,” often resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder and issues involving reintegrating into society, he said. Many also often struggle with mental illness and drug and alcohol abuse to cope with their problems, and being with others in the same position can help, he added.

“The focus is on the strengths veterans have; they want to work together in a unit,” Chicoine said. “They’re working in a community towards them all being in a better situation.”

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